Untouchable
by ethicsforsale
Summary: On the day after the Tamayura Festival, Haruka and Yukino discover something truly astonishing. Haruzuke.


Disclaimer: Mai-HiME and its characters do not belong to me. All I own are the DVD's, some toys, and my fantasies.

A/N: Just a quick note in case anyone didn't see Episode 13 of the anime: there's a myth that if someone ties a ribbon with their loved one in a certain location during the Tamayura Festival, they will find happiness together. Judging by what Shizuru, Takeda and Mikoto do, it seems that the general understanding is somewhat different from that. So long as they have their loved one's name written on the ribbon, the loved one doesn't physically need to be there.

Also, this fic is inspired by the Garbage song with the same title. If you are unfamiliar with the piece, I suggest you take a listen.

Enjoy, and please review.

Untouchable

Many things had been said about Suzushiro Haruka, but never once in her life had anyone accused her of being a romantic. Which was just as well. With so many things to do, who had time for something as useless as puppy love?

Not Haruka, that's for sure.

The blonde in question tossed away a handful of ribbons and hair-ties with a frown of disdain.

Yukino shifted her grip on the garbage can and followed faithfully as she marched off to the next section of the railing. The bespectacled girl spared a sorrowful glance at a forlorn-looking green ribbon peeking out from within the newly disposed pile. Haruka was, as always, oblivious.

"This place is a mess!" the leader of the Executive Committee exclaimed, her loud voice echoing in the large arena. She ripped off an assortment of multicolored bows as if the small pieces of fabric or the writing on them had offended her in some way.

Unlike some people, she had better things to do than pray for romance by tying ribbons in public places that decent, hard-working people like herhad to clean up afterward. And all because of some silly myth.

"What a bunch of supercilious idiots…"

"Superstitious."

"That's what I said!" Haruka blustered peevishly, cutting away an exceptionally tough knot with a pair of scissors. The destroyed pink ribbon with a few lines of poetry written on it quickly joined the others in the garbage can. "Look at this!" She gestured indignantly at the contents of the pile. "Calligraphy, poetry, elaborate knots… with so much time on their hands, you'd think these morons would go do something meaningful."

"It's meaningful to them, Haruka-chan," Yukino argued in her usual soft-spoken way.

"Well I can't imagine why," the blonde huffed, cutting away at a giant lump of ribbon with '_Kuga Natsuki'_ written all over it and watching with an odd sense of satisfaction as fragments of the delinquent's name fluttered limply to the floor. There was enough of it that Haruka had to use both hands to scoop it up.

Haruka vaguely recalled a certain kendo-team captain who had steadfastly prayed in front of a suspiciously sized lump the entire night. Considering the written contents of that which she'd just removed, she wouldn't have been surprised if it was his. _What a waste of good fabric._

It was incredible, really, the sort of nonsense that some people bought into. They'd seen so many of their schoolmates here that night, not all of whom people she'd have necessarily expected to be romantic, or superstitious. Or at least, not desperate enough to believe in some stupid old wives' tale.

Haruka was suddenly struck by a thought, and it captivated her enough that she stopped what she was doing and fixed her gaze on her ever-present assistant.

Yukino blinked in surprise at suddenly being the focus of the blonde's attention. "Haruka-chan?"

The brunette's curiosity was piqued further when her friend's brow knotted in a rare moment of hesitation. The question she was about to ask wasn't at all something she should have been interested in. She decided to ask anyway. "Are you sure you saw bubuzuke-onna tying one of these things here during the Festival?"

The bespectacled girl was caught somewhat off-guard. "I think so," she said with a somewhat hesitant nod. "I only caught a glimpse of her though."

Haruka looked back at the ribbons with her arms at her sides, and frowned. Now that was someone she certainly didn't expect – not that she had any expectations of Fujino Shizuru, mind you. A lot of people annoyed the heck out of her, but there were only several that she really couldn't stand. The current Kaichou was one of them.

The outspoken Executive Committee leader was of the firm belief that the best things in life should be earned with hard work and persistent effort. She herself followed this philosophy religiously. But throughout high school and most of middle school, she had always been overshadowed by Fujino Shizuru.

It wasn't the fact that the Kyoto woman was more popular and looked better on paper that really got under her skin. She just never even seemed to try. There was none of that passion or enthusiasm in her that Haruka or Yukino had whenever they took on a project or an event. She just sat there with her cryptic comments and infuriating smiles, and drank her tea as she waited for success to fall into her lap, which it invariably did.

Be it prestige, opportunities or admirers, Fujino Shizuru had it all, and to her, it was just one big joke.

That was why Haruka hated her. The blonde knew that anyone who had expectations of that useless, airheaded hippie was bound to be disappointed in some way or another. Shizuru had talent, there was no doubt about that, but she didn't care about anyone. Not the school, not the Council, and certainly not Haruka.

And yet…

And yet Haruka was strangely exhilarated by the idea of her rival having a ribbon for the Tamayura Festival. It was pathetic for anyone to believe in such a myth, like one of those little wallflower protagonists out of a shoujo manga. Stupid and laughable. She could see her now, all noble and lady-like in one of her fancy kimonos, reeking of pretentiousness and some exotic perfume, and as she reached over to tie the knot… just another schoolgirl with a crush.

As she stood there in front of the partially vandalized railing with that image in her head, there was an inexplicable part of her that hoped to the gods that it was true. Cos as much as Haruka loved to complain about Shizuru, there was nothing she would have liked more than to know that she was touchable.

With a soft "humph", Haruka continued removing the ribbons, and wordlessly, Yukino followed. But now, the Executive Committee leader was taking them down with less of a rush, giving the written contents of each piece of fabric a passing glance.

The bespectacled girl noticed, but chose not to say anything. Beneath the confusion, she breathed a small sigh of relief. Haruka knew her well enough to recognize her handwriting, and she would not have looked forward to the confrontation that would have resulted from the blonde reading her ribbon. But hers was now safely buried under a good six inches of trashed fabric.

Silently, she thanked Takeda Masashi for his obsessive tendencies.

They were nearly done with the clean-up when Haruka untied a plain, inconspicuous white ribbon from the railing. She was about to trash it, but the writing on it gave her pause. It consisted of a few short lines, but she was focused on the deliberately shaped letters and characters rather than the meaning of the words. Haruka felt an odd lurch in her stomach.

She gave Yukino a nudge, and held it at an angle where they both could see. "Does this look like bubuzuke's handwriting to you?"

Haruka already knew the answer to that. Shizuru had won calligraphy competitions in the past, and she'd seen some of it in a display once. While she wasn't a connoisseur by any means, she was bright enough to know that there weren't many people who could put brush to silk and make it look the way Shizuru did. And yet she still felt the need to confirm it with Yukino.

As the brunette took in the unmistakable elegant calligraphy, her soulful green eyes widened with shock. It was all she could do to nod mutely.

If it was anyone, it had to have been Kanzaki Reito. Still, Haruka was shaken. Unable to stop herself, she read the lines on the ribbon.

_Where once I thought myself untouchable, you have touched me. I wish you happiness,_

"S-Suzushiro Haruka?" The blonde burst out upon seeing a name that was not the Vice President's, and whipped her head up to give Yukino a dumbfounded stare. "Who the heck is that?"

The bespectacled girl didn't offer any explanation, but continued to stare off into space with an expression of sheer stupefaction.

It took a few seconds for realization to hit her, but then, like a sack of bricks, it did.

For the first time in her life, Suzushiro Haruka was rendered utterly speechless.


End file.
